‘Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!’ I growled again and again as the nurse stitched up the large cut on my forehead. I tried to push her away on numerous occasions, but she stayed put, obviously used to people trying to resist against her. There was no word to describe how painful it was, and of course, Mr Riddle was the cause of the pain. ‘Seriously, it’ll probably just heal itself. Leave it alone!’
The nurse sighed, but continued sowing my skin back together. Then she moved to one of the many gashes on my arm and began the stitching process all over again. To be honest, I was sort of lucky. The x-rays clarified that I hadn’t broken any bones, and the doctors were happy to say that I wasn’t going to suffer with any concussion, nor any other stuff like that … Once my stitches were finished I was free to go home, which was all I could think about.
I squeezed Ryan’s hand tightly as the nurse tortured me, and he didn’t seem to even notice. In fact, he had barely spoken since I was lifted into the back of the ambulance. He looked like he was in a trance, or he was stoned. I guessed that was just because of the shock, which would also explain for the few tears that escaped his eyes earlier. Instead of the other way around, I was the one assuring him that everything was going to be okay, but every time I did, his face scrunched up in pain.
My legs were a bit wobbly when the nurse was finally helped me off the lumpy, comfortless bed. Ryan stood up, wrapped a careful arm around my slightly bruised waist and led me out of the hospital. He rang Scott then, who was in the forest at that moment, and told him to drive Ryan’s car back over to us, since Ryan left it there to get into the back of the ambulance with me. Ryan had gotten every single member of the gang to search the woods for Travis, and the fact that he was spotted was already been broadcasted on the news.
‘... and hope has now risen in the small town of Roseville as Travis Phillips, a young man who has been lost for roughly a month now, has just been spotted,’ I heard a lady on the TV say in a room with its window open. ‘Aaron Moss, our reporter in the area, will fill you in on the details.’
‘Yes, I am now here with Rebecca Carney, the young lady who has just announced the sight of Travis Phillips,’ Aaron Moss began. ‘Apparently she was walking home when she saw him near the Roseville soccer pitch. Police are now searching the area and questioning anyone who were around at the time. If there is anyone out there right now who has more information, please do not refrain from contacting the police. Now that Travis has been seen, though, why isn’t he coming home? Mr and Mrs Phillips are here now to say a few words …’
‘How on earth did Rebecca spot him if you saw him in the forest?’ I asked him, frowning up at Ryan. He only saw Trav a while ago … how did Rebecca see him, too?
Ryan shook his head. ‘You know Rebecca longer than me, Laura, she’s probably only saying this to get the chance to be on TV.’
‘What if she really did see him?’
‘I doubt it,’ Ryan muttered, looking over his shoulder to check if anyone was listening. ‘The soccer pitch is right on the other side of town from the woods. There’s no way he would’ve been able to go from the woods to there in so little time because there was a load of traffic tonight with the musical in that theatre. More people would’ve spotted him, anyway, if he was running across the town to the pitch. Trust me, Laura, Rebecca’s only making this up.’
I listened for a moment as Travis’ parents begged him to come home. I felt so sorry for them, even though their son was a bastard. ‘But is Rebecca really that heartless? I mean, she doesn’t know that Travis is really back, so she’s just getting his parents’ hopes up … and Sinead’s, too.’
Ryan’s eyebrows knitted together. ‘That’s true … but I’m sure she doesn’t know he’s really back. She couldn’t. Well at least she’s doing us a favour, anyway, because if she had have said that he was in the woods, all of the cops would be there now so we wouldn’t be able to try and find him ourselves.’
Rebecca was so cold to do this to his family … but she wasn’t the nicest of people, anyway, so I didn’t really know why I was so surprised.
‘Do you really think you’re going to find him?’ I said, trying my best to block out Travis’ mother’s cries. I wondered if my mother would have cried like that if I went missing … ‘I mean, he was there and then he was gone … He’s really good at hiding, isn’t he? Probably come back when we least expect it, knowing him.’
I shuddered at the thoughts of him coming back. I really hoped that Ryan’s gang would find him before the cops got their hands on him, because I knew that the cops would welcome him back like a long-lost friend rather than the criminal he really was. I jumped with fright when I heard the beep of the horn from the car that had just pulled up in front of us. Soon enough, Scott leaned his head out of Ryan’s car and beckoned us in quickly. Ryan let me ride shotgun while he sat in the back, Scott driving.
‘Where are we going?’ I said, noticing we weren’t going in the direction of Ryan’s apartment.
‘I’m just going to drop myself off at the woods, and then Ryan’ll bring you back home. Don’t worry, Laura – I’m not gonna kidnap you,’ Scott laughed. He obviously knew about the stupid prank Ryan, Kyle and Sam played on me.
‘How’s everything going on in there?’ Ryan asked, checking something on his cell phone. ‘I heard that Jason isn’t too happy about the whole lot.’
Scott chuckled. ‘Jason’s angry, alright, but he didn’t tell us to clear off. He’s just afraid that we might draw too much attention, but we’re in the woods – it’s not the busiest part of town, anyway. Jason said it himself, though, we’re not going to stop looking now that Travis is actually in town.’
‘I’m surprised Jason even trusts me,’ Ryan grinned.
‘Well, everyone else believes you so I don’t see why he shouldn’t.’
‘Who’s Jason?’ I interrupted, frowning.
‘Zee Hitler ov zee gang,’ Scott joked, trying to put on a fake German accent.
Ryan rolled his eyes. ‘He’s just first in command.’
I pursed my lips, and decided not to say anything more. I didn’t really know too much about his gang, only that he had a gun, he used to fight tons of people, and he had some type of special control over his friends. I wondered if his gang had a name … which reminded me that I needed to ask about the little “FA 4 Life” obsession on his Facebook profile. I guessed now wasn’t the time to ask, though.
‘Now that Jason’s in the hunt for Travis we’re bound to get him,’ Scott said, pulling me back out of my reverie. ‘He has absolutely everyone out now, even the guys two towns away. You know Lucas Michelson? Well, he’s just become a cop last month and he’s over there now at the soccer pitch, keeping the rest of the cops looking so we have a better chance of finding him. Oh yeah … did you hear that on the news? Some chick said that she saw him over there. Weird coincidence, huh?’
‘Her name’s Rebecca,’ I told him through gritted teeth. ‘Total whore. No one in their right mind should trust her.’
Scott frowned. ‘Rebecca … I think I’ve heard that name before … Is it Rebecca Carney? Oh yeah! That’s who she is! Yeah, pretty annoying, but she was good enough when I took her to bed.’
I felt my jaw drop. ‘Scott! Ew! Didn’t you see how much of a whore she is? She’s a pure bitch! What were you even thinking? Actually, I don’t want to know. Please don’t tell me this was recent.’
‘Last week.’
Ryan’s eyebrows knitted together. ‘I thought Dan’s going out with Rebecca …? Shit, Scott, I think you just got herpes.’
‘Are you trying to say that Dan has herpes?’ I snapped, shooting Ryan a dirty look.
‘Why are you taking up for him?’ Scott asked, sounding confused. ‘I thought he’s like the shittiest best friend in the whole world.’
‘Where did you here that?’ I growled, scowling.
‘Not me …’ said Ryan, as if I already didn’t know.
When we finally reached the woods, Scott hopped out of the car, letting Ryan get into the driver’s seat beside me. A few of Ryan’s friends – Kyle, Sam, Drake, Rob, Joey, Jeffrey, and a few others I didn’t know – popped their heads into the window to say a brief hello, and then they all scampered back to work after Ryan told them to.
On the way over to Ryan’s apartment, I had a look at the stitches on my arm. Did the nurse honestly need to sow my wounds up with black thread? I mean – obvious, much? I wasn’t going to wear short-sleeved tops for a long, long time. It was a good thing that Halloween was soon, though, because I definitely didn’t need to dress up. With my pale skin covered with bruises and cuts, I was sure that any small child would pass me off as a zombie.
‘Roseville’s a lovely place at the night time, isn’t it?’ said Ryan, suddenly breaking the silence.
‘Yeah, especially when you get knocked down!’ I laughed, and then winced as the memory repeated in my head.
‘I’m so sorry that happened to you.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘That wasn’t your fault. Anyway, it wasn’t as though I was going to let that car hit you. Imagine if something bad happened to you! I’d probably die with the tears … I didn’t even get hurt too bad and it was worth it, so it’s all okay, Ryan. There’s no need to be sorry.’
He sighed, parking his car outside the block of apartments. ‘It’s all my fault. If I just listened to you that time, you wouldn’t have to be brought to the hospital all over again. Seriously, I’m like your very own personal death hazard.’
‘This is not your fault!’ I snapped angrily. ‘This is all Mr Riddle’s fault, and Trav’s fault! Not yours! Now shut up before I become your own death hazard.’
Ryan smirked. ‘I doubt that’ll ever happen. Little Laura, you’ve got some imagination.’
~*~
We went to school the next morning, just like nothing ever happened. I made sure my long-sleeved school jumper concealed my arms, and Ryan even allowed me to use my foundation to cover up the ugly scratches on my face. A few people were wondering why I wasn’t in yesterday, while others tried to start conversations with me about Travis and how great it is to know that he’s still alive and somewhere in Roseville.
It was slightly reassuring to be back in school again, and I could feel myself falling slowly back into my routine. Ryan’s friends kept him updated on anything to do with finding Travis, while Sinead kept texting me about anything the cops said about Travis, but, of course, she didn’t really know anything about him. I felt so guilty to see her hopes be risen so high, even though it was actually Rebecca’s fault. She was getting nearly the whole school’s attention just because she appeared on the news last night. Cold-hearted bitch.
Chemistry with Mr Anderson was last class, and everything went as normal, until he told me to stay after class with him for a moment (Ryan wasn’t too impressed). I suddenly remembered that Mr Anderson had no clue that Ryan and I were back to normal, and I still hadn’t given his cell phone back. When the last bell rang, everybody rushed out of the classroom, except for Ryan who was deliberately taking his time putting his books neatly into his backpack.
‘Ryan, out of the room as fast as you can, please,’ Mr Anderson said bitterly, looking the harshest Mr Anderson I had ever seen. I had to bite back my laugh. If they kept this up it was going to be hilarious.
Ryan rolled his eyes, zipped up his schoolbag and strolled out of the room, stopping to give me a kiss on the cheek. Mr Anderson’s eyebrows raised, obviously surprised to see us back on good terms. He walked over to the door, closed it behind Ryan, turned back around and let out a long sigh. Without him even asking me to, I told him everything that had happened since the last time I saw him. He became more and more worried as I babbled on.
‘This is really, really serious, Laura. I think it’s time to go to the police,’ he said, sitting down on the desk beside me. ‘Whoever this is needs to be locked up –’
‘Of course I can’t tell the cops –’
‘That’s the only way of stopping him!’
I groaned, putting my head in my hands. ‘I’m not ready to tell the cops yet. I don’t want to make him angry. You already know what he did to me so far … so it’ll probably make it even worse. Actually, the more people I tell about him, the more hurt I get. I’m better off just going along with it, or whatever.’
‘He’s a bully. You’ve got to stand up to him,’ Mr Anderson said stubbornly. ‘I’m not having my student be pushed around by some asshole. You have to tell the police.’
I shook my head, equally as stubborn. ‘I can sort this out myself. I don’t need the cops to start getting involved … Anyway, it’s not like I have any idea who it is … and it’s definitely not Travis because he was in the woods when I got knocked down.’
‘What?’
Shit, I couldn’t believe I had just mentioned Travis! Honestly, how stupid was I? ‘Nothing …’ I mumbled, mentally beating myself up with one of the metal retort stands on the shelves along the walls of the lab.
‘I heard what you said. I thought the news said that Travis was at the soccer pitch?’
Pretend you don’t know, I told myself, act like you haven’t a clue what he’s talking about. ‘He was at the soccer pitch? Oh my gosh, I have to ring Sinead and tell her! This is great news!’ I screeched, taking out Mr Anderson’s cell phone from my pocket.
But he took it back off me, his lips pressed into a straight line. ‘Don’t try to fool me, Laura. If you won’t tell me, then I’ll just get Ryan.’
I gulped, picturing Mr Anderson alone in a room with my boyfriend. Ryan would probably kill him. Shuddering, I decided to tell him the truth about Trav. Well, not the full truth, just everything minus the gangs. Then it took me what felt like decades just to convince him that telling the cops was a bad idea, because I explained that Travis wasn’t as nice as he seemed to be. I told him about what he did to Sinead and that he was threatening me not to tell her about what he did, and now Ryan and his friends wanted to find him themselves to teach him a lesson.
‘This is crazy. When I was your age, all I cared about was music and being with my friends.’
‘Well, I used to be like that until I met Ryan,’ I sighed, slumping back in my seat. ‘Everything’s just gone topsy-turvy now.’
Mr Anderson frowned. ‘Why’s that?’
I shrugged, pretending to not care. Honestly, though, I did care. I just wanted to talk about everything to someone. Mr Anderson had been great so far, but I knew that Ryan would murder me if he found out that I told someone else about the gang. Ryan was protecting me, and in return I had to protect his secret. It was only fair, after all. It really was crazy, though. Last year I would’ve laughed my head off if anyone told me that all of this was going to happen, especially if they said that I’d be running to my chemistry teacher to talk about my problems.
‘At least you know that Travis isn’t Mr Riddle, anyway,’ Mr Anderson concluded, giving me a small smile. ‘It’s strange, though, isn’t it? You were with your two enemies at the same time … Have you ever wondered if the two of them are both in this whole thing together? That they’re connected?’
‘Maybe … I don’t really care, I just want them to go away –’
Knock, knock. Ryan walked into the room and glared momentarily at Mr Anderson before turning to me. ‘You ready to go home yet? It’s already been nearly a half an hour,’ he said gruffly. Without even waiting for my consent, he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the room. I wondered how long it’d take for Ryan to actually start liking his chemistry teacher again.
‘I’m changing out of that class,’ Ryan announced. Okay, maybe he was never going to like his chemistry teacher again.
‘That’s a pity, because you can’t,’ I grinned, opening my locker to get the books I needed to bring home. ‘Biology, physics and economics are all full to the brim – and they’re the only other subjects you can do instead of chemistry.’
He scowled, crossing his arms. ‘Well, I’ll suppose I’ll just have to have a chat with Mr Pollard, then. There’s no way in hell that I’m going to step into that lab again. Did you see him today? Couldn’t keep his stupid eyes off you. Pervert.’
‘Ryan?’
‘Yes?’
‘Shut the fuck up.’ I snapped, hitting him on the head with my thick chemistry textbook. Slamming my locker shut, I walked off towards the parking lot, not even bothering to wait for Ryan. I heard him mutter something under his breath, and then he quickly caught up with me.
On the way home to my house, Ryan told me about the new arrangements for Chris’s party. He was now changing the date to Halloween night. From the way he described it, it was going to be amazing, and it was a fancy-dress, too, which was always my favourite. I could already feel it – a fun, stress-free night was on its way. Only a bit more than a week away, in fact. I had to start thinking of a costume …
There was a car parked outside my house when we pulled up outside it, which confused me a little – Sinead didn’t drive, and she certainly didn’t have the money to buy a car. However, the car looked oddly familiar, but it wasn’t James’ car … it was someone else’s. I was certain I had seen it before, but Ryan just shrugged, reckoning the type of car was really common. The front door was wide open, reminding me of the day I found Sinead lying unconscious and bleeding on the sitting room floor.
An ominous feeling immediately washed over me. Did something happen to Sinead? Without a moment of hesitation, I sprinted into the house, Ryan running in after me. When I reached the sitting room, she wasn’t there, but I heard her crying. Oh no. Where was she? The kitchen? That was a bad place for my sister to be, since the last time she cooked the whole house nearly burned down. But why was she crying? When I opened the door, the reason was standing right in front of me.
He was back.
*****
Okay, there you go! Another chapter! Yeah, this one isn’t as good as the others … Took forever to write, but I did. Oh, check out the video – absolutely AMAZING song, even though it was out probably before I was born … :L It’s called Zombie by The Cranberries. Do check it out, it’s worth it :)